1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a control device, specifically to a control device for an image forming apparatus, and especially to an image forming apparatus that can control its use by means of access codes.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to prevent unlimited use of an image forming apparatus when there are large numbers of people that use the apparatus, an access code system has been proposed. Under this access code system, persons and sections that are permitted to use the image forming apparatus are assigned an access code, and these access codes are registered in the image forming apparatus in advance. When the user seeking to use the image forming apparatus enters the access code before using the apparatus, the apparatus compares the entered access code with the access codes registered beforehand, and if the number matches any of the registered codes, control is performed so that the copying operation is permitted.
Where said access code system is used with an image forming apparatus, the operation to register the access codes in the image forming apparatus is often performed by a service technician or by the person in charge of supervising the use of the image forming apparatus. As a result, because access codes assigned to persons and sections that do not actually use the image forming apparatus are also registered, the storage capacity of the internal memory used to store the access codes in the image forming apparatus becomes inadequate, creating the problem that access codes that need to be registered cannot be registered. Moreover, the problem also occurs that because an access code has not been registered, the image forming apparatus cannot be used in an urgent situation where it must be used immediately.
The object of the present invention is to provide a control device that can eliminate the inconvenience of registering codes in the image forming apparatus beforehand and allow the immediate registration of new codes.